So imagine his shock when, as a student at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., he went to a chiropractor for pain and the visit wasn't pleasant.

“I was in desperate need of an adjustment since I had put off finding a new chiropractor for several weeks after the move,” said Simms, who now lives in Old Lyme, Conn.

It didn’t help that at a concert shortly after the semester started, a crowd surfer whacked Simms on his head. Simms is 6 feet tall, so it wasn’t unusual for him to get “clobbered” by a concertgoer being passed overhead to the stage. “It happened to me before and since, although this was the worst,” he recalled.

When Simms was a child, his parents took him to chiropractors to treat the chronic pain he has had for as long as he can remember. So it was natural, when he was on his own at college and in pain, for him to seek a chiropractor for relief.

Simms looked up chiropractors in a directory, chose the office closest to campus, and called for an appointment. “They could get me in that day, so I went,” he said. He recalled becoming uncomfortable as soon as he arrived at the chiropractor’s office. “There was a hospital feeling to the environment, which I really hadn’t experienced before,” he said.

The chiropractors he had visited at home were in one-story adobe buildings. “I’d never lived anywhere but Albuquerque, and I thought maybe this is what chiropractors look like when you’re not in the Southwest, where everything is brown.”

Simms found the doctor’s personality to be a little gruff. “But I liked that,” Simms said. “I’d been seeing chiropractors for so long I wanted someone who wasn’t afraid to give my bones a serious talking-to.”

He said the chiropractor listened to his concerns but never told him what he was planning to do for his neck pain. All he said was that Simms needed a whole-body X-ray.

However, Simms was infuriated that the chiropractor didn’t discuss the results of his X-ray. Instead he was told that he was done and needed to make another appointment in a few days and that the bill would be $300. “I had no idea it was going to cost that much,” he said.

Simms was angry with himself for going along with the X-ray and not speaking up. Lesson learned, he said. When choosing a chiropractor for pain, “get a referral from someone you trust, even if you're new in town and know very few people,” he stressed. “And don't be afraid to just run out of there if things aren't to your liking.”

Chiropractics for Treating Pain

William Lauretti, DC, an associate professor in the department of chiropractic clinical sciences at New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls, N.Y., and a spokesman for the American Chiropractic Association, said the best way to prevent a bad experience with a chiropractor is to talk with the doctor. “If something doesn’t feel right, by all means, let them know,” he said.

Lauretti said he always stresses with his students the importance of telling their patients what to expect from their office visits. “Mild soreness after the first couple of visits is relatively common.” If patients know that, Lauretti added, “they don’t go home and get scared and think you did something wrong.”

Lauretti believes that, although patients need to speak up, chiropractors are responsible for outlining the visit and expectations for treatment. “It falls on the doctor’s shoulders to explain, ‘This is what I’m doing, and this is why I’m doing it, and this is what you’ll feel,'" he said. "A lot of surprises are not a good thing.”

Chiropractors treating chronic pain also should give their patients a way of getting in touch with them if they have questions or concerns after their visit, Lauretti said.

Simms learned it the hard way, but Lauretti said asking for recommendations from colleagues, friends, family members, or other healthcare providers is smart. Also, he said, research the chiropractor you choose before your first appointment.

All chiropractors are different, Lauretti added. “Chiropractor A may use a totally different technique and totally different methods than chiropractor B," he said. "That’s why it’s important to have an idea of what to expect before you go.”

Questions to ask a Potential Chiropractor

What chiropractic techniques do you use for treating pain?

Do you use your hands or an instrument for manipulation?

Have you treated problems similar to mine before?

What training and experience do you have?

How long will my treatment last?

You also can go to the website of the medical board in your state and see whether any actions have been taken against the doctor for any reason, Lauretti said. "Somewhere out there, there is a perfect chiropractor for everyone," he said. "The challenge is finding the perfect chiropractor for you.”